McConnell super PAC, Bredesen each pump $2M more into Tennessee race for final stretch

The U.S. Senate debate between Marsha Blackburn and Phil Bredesen in 3 minutes
Nashville Tennessean

Democratic candidate and former Gov. Phil Bredesen, left, and Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn wait for the start of the Tennessee U.S. Senate debate at The University of Tennessee, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in in Knoxville, Tenn.(Photo: Mark Humphrey, AP)

A super PAC tied to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday poured an additional $2.1 million into ads in Tennessee's U.S. Senate election, a sign of a tight race less than two weeks out from Election Day.

Meanwhile, Democratic nominee Phil Bredesen has reached deeper into his personal wealth, loaning his campaign an additional $2 million in recent days.

The McConnell-backed Senate Leadership Fund outlined the new television, radio and digital ad spending in new filings with the Federal Election Commission. It's on top of $1.6 million in new statewide ads the group announced last week.

The infusion comes as the Senate Leadership Fund has also made major financial plays in Senate races in North Dakota, Nevada, and Missouri this week ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm election. Early voting in Tennessee started last Wednesday and runs through Nov. 1.

The vast majority of the super PAC's spending will go toward negative ads opposing Bredesen, a former Tennessee governor, while only $187,000 is earmarked for ads supporting Republican nominee Marsha Blackburn, a conservative Williamson County congressman, according to the FEC filings.

The most recent Tennessee ad paid for by the Senate Leadership Fund slams Bredesen over his record on handling sexual harassment claims during his time as governor.

On Thursday, the Senate Majority PAC, which has ties to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the Committee to Defend the President, a GOP-aligned group supporting Blackburn, launched new ads as well.

The Senate Majority PAC ad seized on Blackburn's missed votes while in Congress.

The Committee to Defend the President's new spot noted Bredesen's previous contributions to national Democrats.

Bredesen has now loaned campaign nearly $7.5M

Bredesen's personal loan was made last Friday, bringing his total personal investment in his campaign to $7.5 million.

When he started the campaign, Bredesen said he didn't envision contributing any personal money into his race. A loan is classified differently than a contribution.

Blackburn has benefited from $21.6 million in spending from outside groups, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, more than twice the $10.2 million in outside spending that has boosted Bredesen,

The Senate Leadership Fund has been the top spender among outside groups in Tennessee's Senate race, having already spent $11.6 million to help Blackburn.

Majority Forward, a 501(c)4 group aligned with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has spent more than $9 million in the race. A separate Democratic PAC, the Senate Majority PAC, has spent $2.1 million to help Bredesen and released a new ad Tuesday attacking Blackburn as "the worst of Washington."

Recent polls from Vanderbilt University and Reuters have shown a race that has again tightened after Blackburn got a noticeable bump as the race nationalized during the Senate's confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

In a fundraising email Monday, Kevin Golden, Blackburn's campaign manager, said many polls have showed "a dead heat — a statistical tie — and we are in need of a new strategy to put us over the edge."

"Based on the trends we've been observing, we need to hit our target audiences harder, so we're going to push more digital ads and have mapped out a new plan for TV ads," Golden's email reads.

He said the campaign needs to raise $22,876 a day to finance the new strategy, adding that Blackburn has authorized matching four times the amount raised for the effort.

"The Chuck Schumer-led Democrats are pulling out all the stops to prop up Phil Bredesen," Golden said in the email. "We know that the D.C. and New York and California Democrats have been sending their checks to Phil since day 1 of his campaign. Tennesseans deserve a Senator who represents their values, not those of the war chest operators."

Joel Ebert contributed to this report.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236, jgarrison@tennessean.com and on Twitter @joeygarrison.

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